Running in the rain and fun with legumes...

It was pouring outside when i wanted to run at 7:00 this morning, and I was not pleased. The Y doesn't reopen until tomorrow, so my options were as follows:

• Go to the gym on campus when it opens at 10. (I didn't want to wait that long, nor did I want to drive 20 minutes there and back.)
• Wait out the rain. (I did this until 8:30, but started to lose my motivation to go at all.)
• Bail entirely. (Not an option, since I took Saturday off entirely.)
• Get wet.

So I went in the rain. I put the ipod in its regular holder and then a ziplock bag, and then tucked it between my sports bra and the shelf in my tank top. (Yep, I'm classy!) I wore old shoes, bit the bullet, and headed out. I made it all the way through the seven miles I wanted to do, and it didn't actually become completely miserable until about the last mile and a half when my shoes were making "splorsh" noises with every step and it was raining off the brim of my hat.

In other fitness-related news, spinning starts on Tuesday. Yay!

My latest culinary adventures have involved meatless one-pan cooking. Meatless just for variety and one-pan for ease of cooking ahead and toting to work/school.

Last week's dish was homestyle lentils with barley. I modified a recipe from the WW Ultimate Flex and Core Cookbook. (I added mushrooms and used barley instead of the pasta it called for because I already had some cooked barley in the fridge). It was my first time trying my hand at lentils, and I was happy with it. I'll definitely make it again. Photo documentation:


This week, I'll be toting around chickpea curry with yogurt from a Cooking Light recipe. I had to take some liberties with the spices because I couldn't find cardamom seeds or cumin seeds. I used ground instead, but I think I used too much. This stuff has some serious kick. I liked the bite I tasted today, but it remains to be seen whether I can get through a whole serving. ;-) I added couscous and spinach, and used fat-free Greek yogurt (I just discovered this a couple of weeks ago, and it's gooood--super creamy!) instead of full-fat regular:



I've also discovered the world's perfect breakfast. I cook the following in a crockpot on Sunday, and reheat it in the microwave when I'm putting on my makeup in the morning:

--1 cup steel-cut oats
--2 eggs, beaten
--1/2 cup egg beaters
--4 cups skim milk
--1 tablespoon sugar-like substance (I used honey last week and maple syrup this week.)
--2 oz almonds
--1/4 cup dried fruit (Last week was golden raisins, this week is craisins.)
--cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg to taste